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Newark ‘hidden gem’ touted in book by retired professor

Ohio
Published 12:25 p.m. ET April 14, 2014

The Old Home Bank was designed by architect Louis Sullivan in 1914 in Newark.
(Photo:
Zach Gray/Advocate file photo
)

NEWARK – Seeking bits of the past, people travel the world looking at famous and important buildings, yet some of these are right in their own backyard.

The Midwest is home to eight “jewel box” banks designed in 1914 by architect Louis Sullivan, and one of them stands at the north corner of Third and Main streets in downtown Newark.

“People in the other seven towns view their Louis Sullivan banks with pride and respect, even reverence. We need to heighten awareness of our building,” said retired Ohio State University professor Joseph R. Tebben, who is launching his new book, “The Old Home: Louis Sullivan’s Newark Bank,” at 7 p.m. April 17 at the OSU Newark library.

A quick read at 110 pages, “The Old Home” is a comprehensive account of the Sullivan-designed Newark bank and is intended to appeal to anyone interested in local history and architecture.

Tebben, a Newark resident for over 40 years, spent 18 months researching and writing his book on Sullivan, who is sometimes regarded as the “father of skyscrapers.” Tebben places information about the bank and its history in the context of early 20th century events and ideas.

“We decided to accept the book for publication for several reasons,” said Jerry McDonald, of the McDonald & Woodward Publishing Co. in Granville. “The manuscript, with an interesting and historically pertinent subject, arrived in our hands finished and well-written. And there is substantial interest in Newark these days in the preservation of historically important buildings.”

While “The Old Home” tells the story of a building, it also chronicles the intersecting lives of two self-made men. One was Emmet Melvin Baugher, a Newark banker who sought to improve the city’s reputation after it had been tarnished by mob violence three years earlier. The other, Louis Sullivan, was facing the twilight of his career and looking to earn money by designing small banks in the rural Midwest.

The building, costing a fortune for its time, even in what was then a prosperous town, stood out from the others that surrounded it.

“It knocked the socks off the town,” Tebben said. “It was generally well-received, although some did quarrel with the design.”

While the building attracts even amateur historians, it is largely ignored in the bustle of everyday life in Newark.

“Something like a building that we see every day slips into the periphery,” Tebben said. “But the spirit of the building is still there, and we need to make people aware of it.”

“On (Interstate 80), before you get to the tiny town of Grinnell, Iowa, there is a sign that says: ‘Grinnell, Iowa, home of the jewel box bank,’” he said. “Here in Newark, we take our bank for granted. In addition to being intrinsically beautiful, this bank represents the labor of our ancestors and shows us what was important to people 100 years ago.”

Tebben became interested in Louis Sullivan’s architecture after he retired in 2007 and visited friends in Chicago, where the architect did most of his work.

“As we toured various sites, I became intrigued by the Sullivan buildings,” he said.

Learning Sullivan had designed eight banks in the Midwest, one of which was in Newark, Tebben launched his project to spotlight it.

The Old Home began as a home lending institution and then was devoted to commercial banking until 1942, when it housed a meat market and later a jewelry company.

Alterations changed the building in ways described as “mutilation” and “desecration” in a January 1965 edition of The Advocate.

From 1974-78, the building remained vacant until Mutual Federal Savings and Loan operated it once more as a bank. The building was repurposed again in 1984 as Tiffany’s Ice Cream Parlor. In 2007, Stephen and Joanne Jones purchased the building with plans to restore it; they donated it in 2013 to the Licking County Foundation.

Where to buy ‘The Old Home’

The following businesses/organizations will carry Joe Tebben’s book, “The Old Home: Louis Sullivan’s Newark Bank,” during its April launch: the OSU-Newark Bookstore, the Licking County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, the Licking County Foundation, Buckeye Winery, the Metropolitan Hotel, the Granville Inn, Buckeye Valley BIA and Cornell’s in Newark.

The Licking County Historical Society is hosting a presentation by Tebben at 2 p.m. April 27 in the Buckingham Meeting House, 5 N. Sixth St., Newark. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. The book will be available for purchase after the presentation.